Studies on migration in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have so far focused on migration to urban areas (local cities and European countries). Little research has explored internal migration into rural areas. Yet in Morocco rural-rural migration is an important strategy for many who are escaping climate variability and unemployment in their hometowns to take advantage of labor opportunities in thriving agricultural enterprises. Gender remains largely missing from migration research in Morocco especially for migrant women. Gender differences are important to account for as men and women have diverse motives, strategies and experiences with migration, and thus require different interventions. In light of gender differences and climate-induced migration and investments in irrigation, this research follows up on the ground to understand the experiences of men and women laborer as the migration continues in three rural areas in the Saiss region (Morocco). These are chosen based on differences in socio-economic, gender norms, and biophysical dynamics to capture as diverse experiences as possible with labor work and migration as possible. These areas also represent both sending and receiving communities. Data was collected through a survey administered to 400 laborers (179 women and 221 men) employed in the intensified agricultural sector of Saiss in Morocco. Using gender analysis, logistic regression models framework and political ecology approach, our findings emphasize that men should be sensitized in their attainment of tertiary education on gender equality and the importance soliciting women’s participation in decisionmaking, particularly with regards to assets (house). For the economic advancement of women, there should be a sustained focus on their ownership and control over unalienable assets (such as housing). The same recommendation applies to the youth. Finally, we found that migrants were less likely to control houses that they owned probably due to a general lack of title deeds. We recommend formalizing their ownership of housing in the settlement areas.

Gender budgeting uses fiscal policies to promote gender equality and women's advancement, but is struggling to take hold in the Middle East and Central Asia. We provide an overview of two gender budgeting efforts in the region--Morocco and Afghanistan. Achievements in these two countries include increasing female primary and secondary education enrollment rates and reducing maternal mortality. But the region not only needs to use fiscal policies for women's advancement, but also reform tax and financial laws, enforce laws that assure women's safety in public, and change laws that prevent women from taking advantage of employment opportunities.

"The struggle for Muslim women’s emancipation is often portrayed stereotypically as a showdown between Western and Islamic values, but Arab feminism has existed for more than a century. This groundbreaking documentary recounts Arab feminism’s largely unknown story, from its taboo-shattering birth in Egypt by feminist pioneers up through viral Internet campaigns by today’s tech-savvy young activists during the Arab Spring.

What has the Arab Spring meant to women, and women's rights, in the region? Three years after the mass social protests of January and February 2011, when and where can we expect the promises of democracy and equality, and the revolutionary spirit of unity and purpose, to be realised? This Foreword offers a stock-taking of events and possible future directions, with a focus on prospects for a women-friendly democratisation.

United Nations Development Fund for Women. 2010. Gender Responsive Budgeting and Aid Effectiveness Knowledge Briefs. New York: The United Nations Development Fund for Women.

Author: United Nations Development Fund for Women

Abstract:

This series of knowledge briefs available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese has been produced on the basis of research carried out under the European Commission-supported programme ‘Integrating Gender Responsive Budgeting into the Aid Effectiveness Agenda’.

The research, which was carried out in ten countries (Cameroon, Ethiopia, India, Morocco, Nepal, Mozambique, Peru, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) investigated how gender responsive budgeting (GRB) tools and strategies had been used in the context of aid modalities, such as general budget support (GBS) and sector budget support (SBS).

The research aimed to increase national partners’ and European Union decision-makers’ understanding of the opportunities for using GRB to ensure that aid contributes to the achievement of gender equality goals. The knowledge briefs aim to provide guidance on using GRB tools to integrate a gender dimension into new modalities of aid financing, so that these support the implementation of governments’ gender equality commitments. The target audiences are programmers and policy makers working for national governments, the European Commission, and bilateral donors.

The series consists of 5 separate briefs:

·Introduction to Gender Responsive Budgeting and Aid Effectivenes

· Guidance sheet on ‘How can aid be gender responsive in the context of the new aid modalities? Lessons from gender responsive budgeting initiatives’

· Brief on ‘How do donors collectively address gender issues in their aid management practices at country level?’

· Brief on ‘How do Individual donors address gender Issues in their policy, programming, and financing?’

The following research reports (1 composite report and 10 country reports) have been generated as part of the UNIFEM programme, "Integrating gender responsive budgeting into the aid effectiveness agenda”. The three-year programme funded by the European Commission (EC) was launched in 2008 and consists of research and programmatic technical assistance.

The programme seeks to demonstrate how gender responsive budgeting (GRB) tools and strategies contribute to enhancing a positive impact on gender equality of aid provided in the form of General Budget Support (GBS).

The first aspect of the programme involved research in ten developing countries to deepen the understanding of national partners and European Union (EU) decision makers of the opportunities for using GRB to enhance accountability to gender equality in the context of the aid effectiveness agenda. Concerned countries were Ethiopia, Peru, Tanzania, Uganda, Morocco, Nepal, India, Rwanda, Mozambique and Cameroon.

The second aspect of the programme will involve the selection of five countries in which targeted and tailored technical support will be provided in 2009 and 2010 to improve country capacity to further institutionalise GRB. (Abstract from UN Women)

This chapter situates gender-responsive budgeting, or GRB, within the debates and research in feminist economics and analysis of macroeconomics, poverty and inequality. It traces the origins of GRB back to seminal experiences in Australia and South Africa that laid the foundation for more recent practice in countries including Ecuador, Morocco and Nepal. It looks at the actors, strategic alliances and partnerships that have supported the mushrooming of GRB around the world to show that one of the main strengths of this work is the transitional networking and coming together of feminists, inside and outside bureaucracies, in support of more and better resources for women. Charting the journey of GRB, it illustrates that where it has succeeded, it has resulted in better alignment between policy commitments and financing for gender equality. Some of main critiques of GRB are addressed and important questions about the future of this work are considered.

Obstacles to organizing peace can sometimes emerge because women have suffered previous sexual violence. Consequently, the frame through which they react to contemporary political situations, including peace demonstrations organized by transnational feminists, might at the core have an internal structure derived from previous violation that women then project to identify, modify, and contain controversy in external events. Therefore, closely examining the border between private and public spheres in women's lives might not always lead to progressive politics for women as a group, as some might hope. Rather, some women might attempt to recover from specifically sexual violence in previous wars, seizing upon discourse bound of national security. They may attempt to regain internal strength by fortifying gender identity that has been thrown into crisis, using nationalistic contours to reaffirm their sense of self. This might lead them to actively protest other women working for peace. Since trauma survivors exhibit modes of recounting life histories that vividly dramatize past events in order to draw attention to private pain in public, the force of such narrators who speak in the streets can upstage peaceworkers' events.

This article seeks to uncover the role of women in the Moroccan nationalist movement. It is based on a careful reading of written sources from the colonial period and on oral sources that the author has collected from participants in the movement. (Clio)